Former President Barack Obama said that pressure to take part in the Democratic Party’s campaign efforts after leaving office created “genuine tension” in his marriage to Michelle Obama.
"She wants to see her husband easing up and spending more time with her, enjoying what remains of our lives," the former president said in a profile in The New Yorker published May 4. "It does create a genuine tension in our household, and it frustrates her."
The profile focused on Barack Obama's political presence after his presidency. In the magazine profile, he said that President Donald Trump's "recklessness" caused him to be in the political arena "more than I would have preferred."
"I’m more forgiving of it, in the sense that I understand why people feel that way, because people aren’t looking at me in historical comparison to other presidents," Obama told the magazine. "They don’t care about the fact that no other ex-president was the main surrogate for the party for four election cycles after they left office."
A 2025 Gallup poll found that Barack Obama is the most popular living U.S. president, with nearly 60% approval overall and a 96% favorability rating among Democrats.
